Have You Ever Had A Crush On Someone?
by Sabrina06
Summary: Co-authored with Robot Wolf 26Z. The Fireside Girls are working on their last few patches. Phineas and Ferb have always been there to help in the past. Everyone starts to ask each other the same question; "Have you ever had a crush on someone?" Some answers might be a little surprising.
1. Chapter 1

_Robot Wolf 26Z A/N: This was a fun one. Often with crushes you can find it hard to not only admit to yourself but your closest friends as well. Sometimes a leap of faith is needed. All I can say now is sit back, relax and enjoy _

_Sabrina06's A/N: I can't believe we actually pulled this one off. Humour, embarrassment and some gentle ribbing are in store for the gang as they search their feelings and admit the truth to themselves._

The Fireside girls were sitting in their clubhouse for their semi-weekly meeting. Isabella looked flustered as Adyson and Ginger wouldn't stop talking about something. She looked to her second in command for assistance. Gretchen put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.

"Thank you Gretchen." Isabella commented. "Now, can we get this meeting under way?"

Gretchen noded simply as she once again took her post to Isabella's right. Once the ringing stopped in the other girls ears, Isabella continued, "As you know we only have a few months before we graduate from the Fireside Girls. Gretchen would you please give us a run-down of the last few patches we, as a group can earn?"

"Of course," Gretchen replied as she stood up again. She readjusted her beret and sash before pulling down a projection screen.

"Not another one of your slide shows," Adyson groaned.

"As you can see we have earned some of the more difficult patches. Of course the most difficult one has only been earned by one troop back in the Seventies, many other troops have tried and failed..." Gretchen trailed off slightly as she processed the idea of the patch.

She took a deep breath, held it for a moment and announced. "The Group Agreement Patch". Everyone looked around the room. "You mean we all have to agree on the same thing?" Katie inquired. Gretchen nodded and proceeded to read from The Fireside Girls' Manual.

"In order for a TROOP to earn this patch, all girls must agree upon and execute a task that is considered "of exceptional difficulty" (see appendix 6.9), and sign the agreement waiver (form 8.6). If one member of the TROOP fails to uphold their portion of the agreement, NOT ONE member of the TROOP will earn this patch."

Katie, Holly and Ginger gave a low whistle. Adyson and Milly looked at Gretchen and Isabella with open mouths. Gretchen looked back at Isabella with a slightly exasperated expression. Isabella stood next to Gretchen and spoke clearly and loudly.

"It was a joint decision on both mine and Gretchen's parts. I know all of us had disagreements in the past, especially when it came down to our crushes," Isabella said, glancing in Ginger's direction.

"So our task for, for," Gretchen started, then started stammering as she tried to inform the rest of the troop what task had been decided on.

"Our task for this patch is to accept and agree on crushes," Isabella cut in, saving Gretchen from tripping over her own words.

Adyson stood up. "Well, we know that Isabella's crush always has been and probably always will be: The Unattainable Phineas Flynn." There were snickers from most of the girls. Isabella rolled her eyes and blushed. "At least you didn't say the task would be to actually get any crush to notice us." Holly said and started to laugh behind her hand.

Gretchen looked to the podium and shuffled a few papers. "That was the second difficult patch." She muttered. Everyone, Isabella included, turned to her. "WHAT?"

Gretchen pointed to the screen as the next slide came up. "The Attain the Impossible Patch". She muttered and started handing out form 8.6 to the members of the Troop.

Gretchen avoided eye contact with Isabella when she handed the raven headed girl the form. As Gretchen handed Ginger her form, a small memory danced in her head. 'Who's the 'better' guy? Baljeet or Ferb?' Ginger had asked. Gretchen tried to shake the memory as she continued with the patch run-down. Isabella took back command as soon as the patches were explained.

"This is going to be hard," Gretchen muttered under her breath.

"So, what, we are just going to hash all this out right here and now?" Adyson inquired loudly, breaking into Gretchen's train of thought.

"No we have to fill out the forms and turn them in before we discuss it. This is one of the few patches where you fail the first time you don't get a second chance," Gretchen answered quickly.

The room fell silent. No one dared breathe once Gretchen uttered that last. "There is one condition." Gretchen said and turned to face everyone from the front of the room. "If you do not wish to earn this patch, you must leave the clubhouse and not return until you've been notified the task has been attempted by all remaining members."

Everyone looked at each other. The one junior member got up and left the clubhouse.

"Very well." Isabella said.

The scratching noises of pens on paper were heard for the next few minutes. Everyone then turned in their forms upside down to the podium where Isabella stood. "For the record... We: The Fireside Girls Troop 46231... Now embark on the task of completing The "Group Agreement Patch".

"So we all know who Ginger and Isabella are crushing on. Who's next?" Adyson commented from her position.

"How about you Adyson?" Holly shot back at the tall brunette.

"Uh," the tomboyish girl flushed a bright red in embarrassment.

"That's what I thought," Ginger started smirking.

"Does anyone of us have a crush?" Milly inquired. Holly, Katie and Gretchen remained silent; Gretchen was the only one of the three to not shake her head.

"It's not exactly a secret who Gretchen likes." Katie said. Gretchen's head whipped in her direction and her eyes went wide. "You like Toby. It's so obvious." Katie pointed out. Gretchen laughed nervously. "Right... Toby..." She replied.

"Gretchen, is there something you wish to tell us? Remember, Fireside Girls never tell a lie." Isabella pointed out. Gretchen looked around the room. 'I'm going to be ridiculed just like Ginger was.' She thought to herself. "I, uh, I... sort of, maybe..." her voice trailed off.

Gretchen's face was growing redder with each passing second as she stared down at her feet. She could feel the eyes of all of her troop-mates were focused on her. She managed to glance up at Isabella, whom was wearing a curious and interested expression.

"Well, Gretchen?" Isabella inquired.

Gretchen took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly before managing to squeak out; "Ferb."

Complete silence met her admission. Gretchen looked up to see several shocked expressions. Gretchen became uneasy as no-one spoke. She shifted foot to foot. Only Ginger was not shocked to hear Gretchen's statement, she had known for three years about it.

Ginger coughed, then glanced around and broke the silence. "That's great Gretchen. I mean... he's almost perfect for you."

Gretchen shrank down behind the podium.

"What's that supposed to mean? Almost perfect? HA!" Adyson exclaimed. Ginger stood up and confronted her. "Who's the only member of the Troop who can, at any time, give a full explanation of what needs to be done for any given patch? Gretchen. Who's the only member who can be counted upon to research anything for anyone of us? Gretchen. Who's the only..." Ginger ranted before Adyson cut her off. "Okay! I get it. Gretchen's smarter than the rest of us put together. But that doesn't explain why she's got a crush on Ferb."

The rest of the girls, Isabella included started listing off everything they could think of about their friend. "He's smart, resourceful, compassionate. He corrects all minute calculations in their projects to ensure no one gets hurt. He's helpful. He listens. He cares about his friends."

Gretchen couldn't hear anything, she was too busy trying to recite the Fireside Girls' 1001 regulations to herself. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and saw the rest of the Troop looking at her.

Face still red with a mixture of embarrassment and the fact that she had a crush on Ferb Fletcher. She stood up slowly. Full of apprehension, she slowly pulled out several sheets with several columns and passed them around.

"So we aren't going to change the said crushes. Basically the good, the bad and the ugly, and everything in between," Gretchen's voice was pitched soft and she spoke quickly.

"Weren't you listening to what we were saying?" Holly inquired.

Gretchen shook her head simply and gave a nervous smile. It was a smile she frequently gave new people, and it revealed her fear of being teased for liking the green haired inventor.

"Okay girls. The Group Agreement Patch awaits." Isabella said as she clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Gretchen, can you please explain the next step?" She asked with a smile.

Gretchen looked around at the Troop. She picked up a dry errase marker and went to the white board. "Okay, we've got..." she tried to write Isabella's name down but her hand was shaking too much. Isabella came over and with a smile took the marker from her friend's hand, she then nodded. Gretchen continued to speak. "We've got Isabella who likes Phineas. Ginger likes Baljeet... I like Ferb..." She said this so quiet even Isabella had a hard time hearing her.

Adyson interrupted. "Oh, all right. If Gretchen can admit it... I like..."

Adyson faltered as all the girls stares became focused on her. Isabella waved her hand in a motion for Adyson to just spit it out.

"Buford."

Everyone exchanged glances, not sure if Adyson was kidding or not. Gretchen gave a simple nod and Isabella wrote it down.

Milly groaned then sighed. "I've liked Django for the past four years." She admitted. Katie looked to her friend then to Isabella. "I might have developed a crush on Matt." Holly face palmed. "I'm crushing on Bill." She said this almost as quietly as Gretchen's admission.

"That wasn't so bad now was it girls?" Isabella said with a smile on her face. Gretchen, along with everyone else, glared at her. "Just think Gretchen, if things work out for the both of us... we might be related." The leader of the Troop said. The shortest member's eyes went wide, her face went red and she shook her head vehemently. "Don't tell a soul. You can't." She pleaded.

"But Gretch," Isabella began as the smaller girl shook her head so violently that her glasses fell off.

Gretchen muttered something obscure under her breath as she stood down to pick up the frames. She replaced them on her face as she straighten back up. She adjusted her glasses and they glinted under the artificial lighting. Her face was still a bright red.

"I'm serious Isabella. You can't tell anyone outside of the people in here right now," Gretchen's dark blue eyes were pleading with the taller girl.

Isabella sighed, "Alright I promise, I won't tell anyone."


	2. Chapter 2

At the Flynn-Fletcher house two 14-year-old boys were cleaning up the garage. "I didn't know we had this much stuff in here Ferb." Phineas managed to say while carrying a large box. Ferb shrugged his shoulders, then bent down and picked up another large box and moved it. "Where did Dad want these again." The shorter one inquired. He listened for his brother's reply but couldn't hear one so he continued to walk forward until he bumped into something.

"Ugh." Ferb uttered. "Will you watch where you're going?" Phineas took a step back and put the box down. "I asked you where Dad wanted the boxes. You didn't answer me." Ferb rolled his eyes, not that Phineas could see. "We were told the boxes had to be placed in the driveway."

Phineas picked the box up again and moved it beside the others that Ferb had placed. "I wonder what Dad wants all these for." Phineas said as he started to open a box. Ferb just shrugged his shoulders and went back into the garage for another load.

Phineas was used to his brother's silence, as they continued moving boxes out of the garage and on the driveway. A thought struck the younger of the two brothers, so he decided to ask the elder boy.

"Ferb?"

Ferb stopped and looked at his red-headed step-brother, "Yes, Phineas?"

"Have you ever had a crush on someone?"

Ferb sighed as he set down the large box. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before replying, "Yes, why are you asking?"

Memories of an older girl with long brown hair, wearing a black outfit flitted through his head. He knew it was a lost cause, even three years ago... but a boy could dream couldn't he? Lately he'd caught himself looking at a few different girls. Some of them could be considered pretty, but Ferb didn't consider himself to be the type of guy who just looked at a girl's looks. He thought of one girl in particular. He thought she was cute, he knew she was smart, he also found himself pondering... from time to time... if he should ask her out.

Phineas looked to the back gate. "How do you know if you've got a crush on someone?" Ferb looked at his brother and blinked. 'At least he didn't ask me what it feels like to be in love with someone' he thought. The shorter of the two sat down on the ground and started playing with some pebbles. "Every time I'm in proximity, not even really close proximity... to Is- someone, I start to feel strange. In a good way, you know?"

Ferb took a seat beside him. "Describe this strange feeling you've experienced." Phineas looked directly at his brother. "Well, my heart rate seems to accelerate, my palms get sweaty and I can't seem to think straight." Ferb bit the insides of his cheeks and his eyes went wide. "What's wrong Ferb, you look as though you're either going to be sick or you're trying not to laugh at me."

Ferb regained control of himself for a few moments before he replied, "Phineas you have a crush on someone."

"What?!" Phineas exclaimed.

"So who exactly do you feel like this around?" Ferb inquired with a smirk.

"No way Ferb! Not until you tell me if you have a crush on someone," Phineas shot back.

Ferb bit his tongue. He was debating whether or not he should say. He could mention that he used to have a crush on...Vanessa? That's right Vanessa. He wasn't so sure if he should mention the only girl he had met that could match wit with the best.

Ferb looked cautiously at his brother. He looked to the gate and took a breath. "You want to know who I've got a crush on?" He inquired. Phineas nodded his head. "Yes. Yes I do." The taller teen stood up and turned his back to Phineas. "I've got a crush on Isabella." He said and hung his head and grinned. Phineas leapt to his feet. "WHAT?! Are you insane Ferb? How could you possibly have a crush on her?" He ranted as he balled his hand into a fist and raised it to strike.

Ferb turned around and was hit on the shoulder by his brother who was obviously distressed about something. Ferb suddenly became serious, stepped back and made a grab for Phineas' hands as they were coming at him again. "Stop. Just stop. It was a joke. Haud yer wheesht!" Phineas stopped at that. Ferb rubbed at his sore shoulder.

"That's not a joke Ferb!" Phineas said, breathing hard. Ferb started laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face though. At least I got my answer. Time to get back to these boxes, they're not going to move themselves."

Phineas' face was now a bright red. He was now grumbling under his breath about how Ferb's joke wasn't at all funny. He whirled around after setting his box down.

"Who do you seriously like?" Phineas inquired quickly.

Ferb was taken slightly aback at his brother's persistence.

"Will you leave me alone if I tell you?" Ferb asked.

"Of course," Phineas assured him.

"Well she's one of Isabella's friends," Ferb admitted slowly.

"Please tell me it isn't Adyson," Phineas pleaded.

"Definitely not," Ferb replied, stone faced, "It's..."

Phineas' eyes were starting to bug out of his head in anticipation of his brother's answer. Ferb started to rub at his temples. "Well...?" Phineas prodded. Ferb glared at him. "Gretchen." He quietly muttered.

Phineas blinked. "I didn't quite catch that bro, can you repeat yourself?" It was Ferb's turn to have his eyes bug out. "No. I'm not repeating myself to you. What does it matter anyhow? You can barely admit to yourself who you've got a crush on, though it's so obvious." He almost yelled at Phineas while pulling at his own hair.

"Hey, I'm just curious bro." Phineas tried to calm himself and his brother down. Ferb nodded. "Fine. You like Isabella. Great, fabulous." Ferb said. Phineas looked at him. "And you like...Gretchen? Hey that's great! Maybe we can..." Phineas was talking when Ferb stepped up beside him and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shhh."

"You are not to breathe a word of this to anyone. Not even Izzy," Ferb hissed in Phineas's ear, "We have a pretty good friendship going and I don't want to freak her out by telling her that I like her."

Phineas nodded behind Ferb's grip. He then got a mischievous thought and licked Ferb's hand.

"Eeeurgh! Phineas!" Ferb yelped wiping his hand on his pants, "That was gross."

"Got you to let go didn't I?" Phineas smirked.

"Phineas you have to promise you won't say a word, I'm serious," Ferb pleaded with him.

"I solemnly swear that I won't say a thing, if I do you can call me a git or whatever and tell me 'no' to any invention ideas I come up with for two weeks," Phineas replied, raising his right hand in a vow.

"I'm holding you to that." Ferb said and pointed at him. Phineas nodded. Ferb eyed the younger one from the corner of his eye. "Trust me... I can call you worse than a git." He said and turned to walk away then continued "It'll take you 20 minutes to look it up and you'll forget why."

Phineas barely caught that last, but he did. 'Wow, he's serious.' He thought then followed Ferb back to the garage and the last few boxes.


	3. Chapter 3

Lawrence came into the garage from the house. "Good job boys." Phineas looked at his brother then back to his father. "Thanks Dad. Why are we moving all these boxes out of the garage anyhow?"

Lawrence looked at the 14 boxes in the driveway. "Well, some of them contain your old toys and books. A couple of others are full of antique Christmas ornaments. There should be one that..."

The boys had tuned him out "Just let us know if you need anymore help with them." Phineas said and walked into the back yard. As the pair were sitting under the Oak tree in silence the back gate opened.

Isabella walked in with her troop Each girl had a notebook and a pencil in hand.

"Hi Phineas whatcha doing?" Isabella inquired as her troop filed in around her.

"Oh! Hey Isabella," Phineas said quickly to recover from the start he had gotten when the gate had opened suddenly.

Ferb simply waved at the girls. This caused a lot of snickers, to the confusion of both of the boys. Isabella waved her hand at them to get them to quiet down.

"You still haven't answered my question Phineas," Isabella noted.

"We just got done moving boxes for dad. We haven't really decided what to do yet," Phineas admitted, while Ferb nodded.

Isabella and Adyson looked to each other. "Wow, you've not come up with a single idea for today? That's so unlike you guys." Isabella said as she did her best to avoid eye contact with her second in command. "Yeah, well. Sometimes it's difficult to think of a new idea everyday. By the way, you're usually here much earlier than this. We really could have used your help moving some of these boxes." Phineas said.

Ferb looked to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "Good idea Ferb, let's get some drinks for everyone." The red-head leapt to his feet and all but dragged his brother into the house leaving the girls stunned in the backyard.

**In the kitchen that was thankfully devoid of other members of the family.  
**  
"Thanks a lot Ferb! Now what am I supposed to do? I can't go back out there. You and your powers of perception." Phineas grumbled as he was getting drinks from the fridge for everyone. Ferb tapped him on the shoulder. Phineas turned around and handed over some sodas.

"Nothing's really changed. You've just realized the answer to your own question, that's all." Ferb pointed out to him. "Now, let's go back out and visit with our friends." He finished. Phineas just stared at him mouth agape. "How do you do it? You stay so calm when faced with... frustrating circumstances." He said.

Ferb shrugged his shoulders, grabbed some drinks and headed out to the back yard.

As Ferb handed the drinks around to the Fireside Girls, he noticed that Gretchen blushed slightly as he handed the bespectacled girl her drink. He also noticed that Isabella and Gretchen were avoiding eye contact with each other, an odd behaviour for the both of them.

"Is there any issue between you and Gretchen, Isabella?" Ferb inquired of the raven haired girl.

"Uh, No, no issues whatsoever," Isabella spoke rapidly, looking around everywhere but at Gretchen.

Ferb cocked an eyebrow at her as his brother came back outside. Phineas glanced at Ferb whom simply shook his head.

"Are you girls going for a patch?" Phineas asked Isabella.

"Y-yeah, the "Group Agreement" Patch," Isabella replied, finally making eye contact with Gretchen.  
Gretchen quickly broke the eye contact, and looked away. Since Gretchen extracted the promise and the revelation of the secondary patch, Isabella had been avoiding making eye contact with her. Gretchen knew that Isabella was worried about the second patch, mostly because Phineas could be so oblivious.

Phineas grinned. "What do you need to agree upon? Do you need any help? We've helped you girls out with most of your other patches over the years." His speech got faster the further along his string of thoughts he got. Katie, Holly, Adyson and Milly clamped their hands over their mouths as Isabella and Gretchen started to look skyward and shift from foot to foot. Ginger was the only one to remain composed.

"I'm sorry, Phineas." Ginger started. "This is a patch that we have to work on as a Troop. Seeing as you're not girls..."

Adyson snorted loudly. Ginger threw her a dirty look.

"Seeing as you're not girls, nor are you official members of the Troop... You really can't help us with this patch. Thanks for asking though." Ginger finished with a smile.

"Oh," Phineas said as his face fell.

"You can help us out on a later patch though," Ginger suggested.

"Okay," Phineas's face brightened a little and Ferb could help but snicker.

"It was, uh, getting a little stuffy in the lodge, do you mind if we work on the patch here?" Ginger asked for the group as a whole.

"Uh, Sure," Phineas said, confusion written on his face.

"Thanks Phineas," Ginger gave him a friendly smile before ushering the girls to one corner of the backyard.

The boys sat under the tree and tried to figure out what they could possibly do to help the girls out. "We don't even have any idea what their patch is. We should wait for them to let us know." Ferb pointed out. Phineas reluctantly agreed.

**Standing in the back corner of the yard.**

The Fireside Girls were talking as a group. "I can't believe you guys." Ginger said looking at them. "Adyson, was that really necessary? I mean geesh, Isabella? Gretchen? You two are not acting like your normal selves... pull it together." Isabella looked toward the back yard. "Ferb thinks that we're angry or upset with each other." She said as she pointed between herself and Gretchen.

The back gate opened, again, and Buford sauntered in with Baljeet wrapped around his neck like a scarf. Phineas looked over at them. "Uh, Buford? What's with..." He was cut off when Buford replied. "It's wear your favourite accessory day today." The Flynn-Fletcher brothers looked to each other, shrugged and invited the other two over.

"So, we've got the one patch covered?" Katie inquired. Isabella and Gretchen nodded. "Yes, we agree on what we needed to agree upon." Gretchen muttered. All girls but Gretchen started to squeal. Isabella noticed this and spoke to the group. "That really wasn't so difficult, I guess that just goes to show you how understanding we can be towards each other."

"Yeah but now we have the other patch," This simple statement brought the troop to complete silence.

Isabella turned to look at Gretchen, who shrugged in reply. Isabella sighed softly and glanced over her shoulder at the Flynn-Fletcher boys and The bully and his nerd.

"Well four of us can take care of the second patch right now," Holly remarked, while giving a pointed stare at Isabella, Gretchen, Adyson and Ginger.

Isabella scowled slightly, "Holly..."

"It's not my fault...!" Adyson raised her voice before the rest of the girls stared her into silence. "Keep it down." Katie whispered to her as she looked towards the tree in the yard; she smiled and waved back to the boys. She then continued. "Isn't there the artist show in the park today? Django's sure to be there. And Bill plays on the baseball team right?" The blonde looked to Holly who nodded. "There's that tournament at the diamond. As for Matt, well, he's out of my league anyhow... I don't really need this patch."

Isabella shifted her right foot on the ground. "Are you sure Katie, we always try to get all the same patches." Katie nodded and smiled at her friends. "It's okay."

"Hey, Adyson!" Buford yelled across the yard. "What's not your fault?" Adyson looked at the girls. "What do I tell him?" Gretchen spoke up. "It's not her fault that she's an amazonically tall compared to me." The rest of the girls collapsed on top of Gretchen. "I can't believe you actually said that."

"It's the truth! And will you guys get off? You're crushing me," Gretchen retorted.

"Alright girls, up," Isabella finally said quietly.

Isabella helped Gretchen up after the girls disentangled themselves.

"Come on you two, The guys are just standing there. Go in and take your guy," Ginger encouraged.

Isabella squared her shoulders and with confidence walked over to the one person she had to speak with. Gretchen cast a curious glance in the direction of her troop leader then she rubbed at her shoulder where Adyson must have put most, if not all her weight.

"I'm sorry about that Gretchen." Adyson said as she too, looked after Isabella. "Oh, for the love of..." Ginger said and stomped off in the direction of the boys standing by the tree. "Uh, Gretchen?" Katie said quietly. The second in command looked at the other Fireside Girl to see her pointing over her shoulder. Gretchen stood up straighter, turned around and stepped right into Ferb who had come up behind her.

"Are you alright?" He inquired of her as he placed his hands on her arms, to steady her. Gretchen looked to her feet, blushed and nodded. Ferb placed his hand tentatively on the shoulder he saw her rubbing moments ago. He felt her muscle tense up then relax, ever so slightly. "I must admit it was amusing to hear you describe Adyson as 'amazonically tall' in comparison to yourself." The British one spoke softly. The short brunette nodded again and laughed lightly.

Ferb gently reached for Gretchen's hand and started walking toward the tree. "Where are we going?" She inquired now that she found her voice. "I thought that we could sit beside the tree and I could..." His thought trailed off as he saw the way the sunlight played with her hair. He gave his head a shake. "...work on the knot in your shoulder." He finished, hoping against hope she didn't pick up on his lack of focus.

Ferb lead her gently over by the tree. He sat her down and then knelt behind her. He slowly placed his hand on her shoulder and once again he found that her muscle would tense then relax ever so slightly. He carefully felt around the knot. He started to work on the knot slowly. He didn't notice that she was deep in thought. He did however notice Adyson and Ginger say something to Buford and Baljeet respectively, and the boys following them to different areas of the yard. Ferb stopped rubbing and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Huh? Yeah a bit," Gretchen responded.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ferb inquired quietly.

Isabella stepped closer to her long-time crush. "You can do this." She whispered to herself. She continued to put one foot in front of the other and after what felt like years she was finally standing an arm's length away from him. Ferb had left the area, she saw that, but she didn't turn to see where he went. She had kept her focus and now she was standing beside her red-headed neighbour, her best friend, her crush. "Hey, Phineas? Whatcha' dooin'?" She asked him as sweetly as she could.

He blinked, shook his head and smiled. "Hey, Isabella. I was just thinking." The raven-haired girl smiled back. "I was just thinking that the lot of us should just try to have some fun for a day." Phineas said. Isabella sighed and looked to the ground for a moment. "Well, we have fun everyday. You guys always come up with fantastic ideas and it's great that you involve everyone you know." She said.

Gretchen turned around and looked into Ferb's blue eyes for a moment. "I like you." She whispered so quietly even he could barely hear her. Ferb smiled at her and traced her jaw with his finger, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I fancy you too."


	4. Chapter 4

Ferb longed to kiss her but he refrained from doing so. He glanced around the backyard. He found to his surprise that Buford had flushed a bright red and Baljeet was stammering something in Hindi. Isabella had her arms crossed and she was looking a little sad. He looked at the remaining three girls whom were idly chit-chatting while occasionally glancing in the direction of everyone in the backyard. He looked at Gretchen, who was nervously playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Is this something to do with the patch?" Ferb inquired.

"Not the one you're thinking of," Gretchen quietly replied, as she glanced over at Isabella and Phineas, then at Ginger and Baljeet.

"Enlighten me?" Ferb asked gently as he carefully tried to place one hand on top of hers and the other around her shoulders. Gretchen shook her head, then looked at their hands and blushed. "Well..." She said looking around the yard.

Phineas looked to the ground for a moment then back to Isabella's face. "Isabella, we're friends right?" He spoke seriously and quietly, for him. She nodded. "Yeah, friends." She replied unenthusiastically and turned her head away, she didn't see the pained expression cross his face.

"We're going out for ice cream! Who wants to come along?" Adyson called out. Ginger and Baljeet readily agreed, and the four of them headed toward the back gate.

"Just a minute!" Phineas called out. "Isabella." He said as he grabbed for her hand. "Can I buy you an ice cream?" The girl in the pink dress smiled slightly. "You don't have to. I can get my own." Phineas grabbed for her other hand and looked directly at her. "I want to."

Isabella blushed slightly. Phineas grinned manically. He pulled her out to the curb where the ice-cream truck was parked. Phineas looked at her, and smiled.

"So what flavour do you want?" Phineas inquired.

"Oh uh Strawberry," Isabella replied.

"One Strawberry and one Chocolate please," Phineas told the Ice Cream Man.

The Ice Cream man handed him the two ice creams. He handed the Strawberry one to Isabella. She noticed that a little chocolate had gotten on her ice cream. She started laughing. Phineas looked at her inquiringly.

"You got your ice cream on mine," Isabella giggled.

Adyson and Buford went for a walk down the street, Baljeet and Ginger walked in the opposite direction. Holly, Milly and Katie made their way toward the park.

Ferb and Gretchen were still sitting under the tree. "Did you want an ice cream?" He asked her, she shook her head. "No thank you." She replied and she looked into his eyes.

They moved a little closer to each other. Ferb wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head against his chest for a moment. He rested his head momentarily on top of hers then whispered. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're beautiful." Gretchen tilted her head to the side, ever so slightly and looked into his eyes with apprehension.

"Gretchen." Ferb whispered as he leaned closer to her. "May I?" He inquired. The smallest Fireside Girl nodded and her eyes slid closed as she received her first kiss.

"Well it looks like our ice cream flavours like each other," Phineas laughed as he and Isabella re-entered the backyard. Isabella grabbed his arm as she spotted Ferb and Gretchen in the middle of a kiss.

Phineas spotted them, and then, taking Isabella's hand, backed slowly out, He chuckled to himself.

"What?" Isabella asked.

"Ferb, you know, he actually admitted he liked her this morning and judging by her reaction she does as well right?" Phineas asked, for a brief moment showing clarity.

"Yeah, apparently for a few years now too," Isabella responded.

"Do you like anyone?" Phineas asked suddenly.

"As in a crush?" Isabella returned.

"Yeah," Phineas replied quickly.

Isabella pondered this question for a few minutes while she ate her ice cream. "There is one guy I've had a bit of a crush on." She said slowly as she looked and smiled at Phineas. "You? Anyone you've got a crush on?" She asked in return.

Phineas continued eating his ice cream as he carefully chose his words, something he's not used to doing. "I've had my eye on one girl in particular lately."

They ate their ice creams in an awkward silence for a few minutes, then started to engage in small talk.

As they both finished their ice creams Phineas started to open the gate again, he didn't see Ferb nor Gretchen in the back yard. "Care to sit with me under the tree?" He said to Isabella.

"Uh, Sure," Isabella replied, blushing slightly.

Phineas sat down under the tree and patted the spot next to him. Isabella hesitantly sat next to him. Phineas smiled broadly at her before staring into the twisting branches. Isabella watched him in wonder, so this is how he got all those ideas for the crazy inventions.

"She's one lucky girl to get your attention," Isabella finally commented.

"I'm just worried that she doesn't feel the same way," Phineas said quietly.

Isabella picked a few blades of grass. Phineas turned toward her again. "You had mentioned that you were working on a patch Ferb and I could help you with." He said enthusiastically. "What do you need? A remote-controlled..." He continued before she cut him off. "No Phineas, nothing like that." Both of their phones sounded simultaneously. "Excuse me a moment." The pair said to each other as they stood up and answered their phones.

After a few seconds they hung up and turned to face each other. Phineas was red in the face, it appeared as though he'd received a severe sunburn, his eyes were large and he started to stutter. "Th-th-that... F-F-F-Ferb..." Isabella wasn't doing much better. "Gretchen." She muttered.

"Ummm," Isabella finally managed.

"That was the most awkward phone call I have ever gotten from Ferb," Phineas admitted, his blush deepening as he realized how close he was to Isabella.

"Oh?" Isabella responded.

"So what'd Gretchen say?" Phineas asked.

"Umm," Isabella turned bright red.

Isabella looked between the ground and Phineas a couple of times. "She said..." Isabella wasn't given the opportunity to finish her thought.

Phineas finally processed what Ferb just said over the phone. What had transpired not long ago and his conversation with his brother earlier. He grabbed Isabella by the arm and spun her against himself, he then looked into her blue eyes and before he realized what he had done he was kissing her.

Isabella was caught off guard by being suddenly spun around, but when she realized that her long time crush was pressing his lips against hers she inwardly smiled.

The two were unaware of the two people watching them. The shorter one leaned against the taller one. She had a smile on her face.

"About time," Gretchen whispered to Ferb, whom just smiled and nodded. They left the two in the backyard.

"So anyone else trying for this patch?" Ferb inquired once they were out of earshot of Isabella and Phineas.

"Adyson, and Ginger for sure. Katie, Milly and Holly, they are up in the air about it," Gretchen replied quietly.

"So do you think Girly finally told Dinnerbell?" Buford asked Adyson gruffly.

"Isabella can be a bit stubborn on it. It drives us a little stir-crazy at times. It makes us wonder if Gretch is insane or a genius for hanging around Izzy all the time," Adyson replied with a shrug.

"Or insanely genius," Buford chuckled.

"Probably explains why they would strap her to me when ever we go mountain climbing," Adyson chuckled before Buford grabbed a hold of her hand to prevent her for getting knocked over by a large group of little girls. When she realized what he was doing, she flushed a bright red.

"Thanks Buford, that could have been disastrous." Adyson said. "No problem... I mean..." Buford looked at his hand holding Adyson's. "You could have been hurt, those girls were going pretty fast and they were all over the place."

"I should probably head back to the lodge now." Adyson said as she averted her eyes away from the bully. "I'll walk with you." Buford offered. "Just to make sure that you don't get hurt." He finished. Adyson smiled then replied. "If you feel it necessary, who am I to object?"

Ginger and Baljeet were walking and talking. He had calmed down somewhat, now he was able to get a complete thought out in English before breaking into Hindi again. "I had no idea you felt this way Ginger. I would have thought you to be interested in someone who is..." Ginger started to giggle. "Baljeet, I've had a crush on you for about as long as Gretchen's had a crush on... Oops. I shouldn't have said that."

This instantly got Baljeet's attention. For as long as he had been in the same classes as the brunette, the girl had never given any kind of indication that she liked anyone past 'just friends.' It wasn't uncommon for Baljeet and Gretchen to turn in their work days before the other kids.

"Gretchen has a crush on someone?" Baljeet managed to blurt out in English.

'Nice going Hirano, you nearly just reveal the number one thing that would embarrass the living heck out of Gretchen,' Ginger thought to herself. She spoke rather quickly that Baljeet could barely follow, " You really don't want to know."

Baljeet raised his eyebrows, "You stopped yourself before you said a name. Did you make a promise?"

"Yes, I said too much already," Ginger admitted.

Baljeet smiled. "You should not break a promise to a friend." He said as he looked fondly at Ginger. "I am sure that, whomever Gretchen has a crush on, is flattered." Ginger smiled back. "I hope so. Even though we Fireside Girls think of her as a 'know it all', she does deserve a nice guy." She said.

Milly was walking through the 'Art in the Park' exhibit when a familiar voice called out to her. "Milly! Hey Milly!" She turned around and saw Django Brown. She waved, smiled and walked over to him. "Afternoon, Django. Is this your latest? It's wonderful." She said as she looked at a painting of the pond at sunset.

"You really think so?" Django inquired glancing at it.

"Yeah, it's really nice," Milly answered nodding vigorously.

"I wish I could just enter some of my sketches, but I don't like people seeing those much," Django replied.

"Oh," Milly said quietly.

"I'll show you some of the stuff I've sketched," Django commented, not noting the change in Milly's expression.

Django pulled out a sketchbook out of a bag and flipped to a charcoal drawing of a group of girls, Troop 46231 to be exact. As he flipped through it Milly marvelled at the amount of detail he put into each drawing. Milly giggled at the one drawing that captured the Flynn-Fletcher boys so well. It was of them mid-action, Ferb unrolling a blueprint while Phineas gestured with his hands. Django flipped to one of a girl with poofy hair, and he quickly tried to change it when Milly placed her hand on his. Django went a bright red at her soft touch.

"Django? Is that -" Milly didn't even get to complete her question.

"Yeah it's you. I've been drawing you for a couple of years now," Django blurted out, his face became redder with each word.

Milly blinked a few times as Django's admittance sunk in. Django stood up to leave, he was worried that she didn't like him in that way. He stopped when he felt her hand slip into his. He looked at her and to his surprise, she also was a bright red and smiling.

"I never thought Artists showed their work to others before it was done," Milly said .

"Artists often show their muses their works in progress," Django replied automatically and then turned a brighter red when he realized what he had said.

Milly blushed at his words. "Django? I'd love to see more of your work, if you don't mind." He broke out in a wide grin. "Not at all." He grabbed her hand and they walked around his small section of the exhibit. I always keep my current sketchbook on me, but I've got a couple more over here... and a few canvases and other drawings that I didn't put into the exhibit.

As Milly was looking at a picture of what she knew to be the Flynn-Fletcher backyard devoid of everyone, Django discreetly pulled out his sketchbook and pencil and started working. It only took him a few minutes to finish the rough sketch of Milly sitting at a picnic table looking at a drawing of a tree. "You can have this one." He said as he sat down beside her and handed over the page. She turned and faced him. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Milly?" Django asked as he reached for her hand. "Would you like to see the rest of the 'Art in the Park' with me?" She nodded her head. "I'd love to see it with you."


	5. Chapter 5

It was drawing closer to the time for the troop to reconvene at the Lodge in Downtown Danville instead of the clubhouse in the woods. The girls had to report any progress they had made on patches. If the patch wasn't obtained within the day, the patch ceremony would take place on the next day. The only people in the lodge were the Flynn-Fletcher boys, Isabella and Gretchen. Isabella and Phineas were talking in lower tones in the front of the room. Gretchen and Ferb were quietly comparing notes on past projects and achievements.

"Hey Chief, Hi Gretch," Adyson greeted the two girls. Gretchen gave a simple wave, while Isabella, noticing whom Adyson had brought with her, smirked.

Then Ginger and Baljeet entered, a blush visible on both their faces. Baljeet glanced at Gretchen and Ferb, then a look of realization came across his face.

Milly and Django were followed into the lodge by Holly and Katie and two young men. Both of the young men looked sheepish to be inside the Organization's Area Head Quarters. The sound of people quietly talking filled the lodge, that is until Isabella gave a nod to Gretchen, whom repeated the ear-splitting whistle from earlier that day. Everyone winced at the sudden high pitched sound.

Baljeet, Buford, Bill and Matt walked over to where Phineas and Ferb were sitting near the back corner. "This makes sense." Baljeet commented as he joined the brothers. Phineas and Buford looked at him confusion written on their faces. Baljeet looked toward Ferb. "Ginger said that Gretchen had a crush on someone but refused to give a name. She said it was a promise that she could not tell. I never would have guessed." Phineas laughed. "Ferb was telling me that he had a thing for her."

Ferb tapped his brother on the shoulder. "Yer a bletherin' git... Two weeks." Phineas' eyes went wide. "I didn't say... oh right, I did. But Ferb, isn't that why we're..." He replied before Ferb raised a finger at him. "We will have a long discussion about this later." Phineas had the sense to look worried.

"Okay girls!" Isabella called from the front of the room. "And guests." She added. "I'd like to congratulate Katie, Holly, Milly, Adyson, Ginger and Gretchen on fulfilling the requirements..." Gretchen tapped Isabella on the shoulder. "The way you're saying this makes us come across as... selfish." Isabella looked out at her Troop, then at the small group of guys in the corner.

Isabella paused and sighed. Gretchen had a point. Isabella shuffled the list of papers on the podium, all of which Gretchen had picked up from the clubhouse.  
It would be safer to just release the girls for the night and then have them reconvene first thing in the morning. Isabella muttered something obscure in Spanish. She glanced at her Second again then out at the troop and finally at the guys, in particular, Phineas.

"Alright, boys I bet you're wondering why each member of our troop brought you with them. For our "Troop Agreement' Patch, we had to do something difficult, which for us, was admitting and accepting each others crushes. We encouraged each other to, ahem, go after whom we liked," Isabella explained, turning red as she caught Phineas's eye.

All the girls were looking some place other than their respective crushes.

The boys sat near the back of the room listening. In their own way they each found it amusing to see the girls shift foot to foot, avoid eye contact with everyone and blush brilliant shades of red. Though amused, they didn't laugh.

Django cautiously looked around then raised his hand.

Isabella continued to talk. "which brought us to our second patch. 'The Attain The Impossible Patch'." Isabella looked around the room and started rambling faster and faster. "You see, we're actually very nervous when it comes to... to... admitting to ourselves and others that we... like them, as more than friends. That's not an easy task for anyone, but we had to be truthful to ourselves... and to you guys..." Troop leader Isabella noticed Django with his hand raised. "Yes, Django?"

The artist stood up and looked around. "So, you all had to agree on a crush? How is that difficult? It's common knowledge that you've liked Phineas for a number of years now." Phineas looked astounded. Buford burst out laughing, Baljeet and Ferb just sat quiet as did Matt and Bill.

Gretchen took a deep breath. "Sadly, we've given Isabella a hard time over the years." She turned to her leader. "I for one, am sorry if I've hurt your feelings." The rest of the girls sounded the same sentiment. The second in command continued. "We didn't want anyone making fun of us..." She turned to Ginger who smiled and nodded. Gretchen then finished her thought. "Friends are supposed to be there to support and encourage each other. It's difficult to admit to oneself that they have feelings for someone else, try telling that to your best friends. That brought us to our 'Attain the Impossible Patch', I think I speak for the Troop as a whole when I say that for us, the 'Impossible' was summoning enough courage to say..." Gretchen looked directly at Ferb. "I like you."


End file.
